Cooler Master Storm Sirus 5.1 Gaming Headset Review – A Perfect Blend Of Versatility And Affordability

CLOSER LOOK

The first thing you will most likely notice is the size. The headset is massive, especially coming from a Logitech Wireless ClearChat Headset. The aesthetics are nice and sleek – very malevolent, yet polished:

Cooler Master Storm Sirus

The build quality is excellent. Overall the Sirus is very sturdy, and despite the thick plastic construction it has the perfect amount of flex to it for easy movement, as well as a very soft and smooth feel. The sliders account for a wide array of head sizes and the length adjustments lock firmly in place:

Cooler Master Storm Sirus Cooler Master Storm Sirus

The foam padding rests nicely on the top of the head, and allows for consistent balance. The force downwards will be a bit restrictive at first considering that it rests right on the soft spot of the skull, so the headset may feel a bit odd, but you will get used to it after wearing the Sirus for a few hours:

Cooler Master Storm Sirus

The earcups covering the drivers have a great plastic snap-on design. They are large and blockish, and most importantly comfortable. The Sirus 5.1 headset comes preinstalled with the microfiber covering, but can be replaced by the other silky leather (vinyl) earcups by simply removing the microfiber coverings and pulling on the black leather coverings, and snapping the bracket back in place. Both feel very, VERY good, even after long gaming periods – a luxury I had never previously had with headsets.

Cooler Master Storm Sirus Cooler Master Storm Sirus

My Logitech Wireless ClearChat not only has small rounded leather earcups, but prolonged use leads to a lot of pain, not to mention they only cover three-fourths of both my ears (sound leaking). On the other hand, I was absolutely astonished that I had lost all sense of my surroundings while wearing the Sirus, having been the first time the earcups fit perfectly and blocked-out outside noise. Couple that with 360 degree 5.1 audio and the total immersive experience was phenomenal to say the least.

Cooler Master Storm Sirus Cooler Master Storm Sirus

That immersive experience comes from three F/R/C 30mm drivers (32 Ohms impedance) spaced in a triangular formation point inwards, with a bigger 40mm sub driver (16 Ohms impedance) rounding-out the bottom. The circumaural closed dynamic drivers sport true physical 5.1 surround audio with >105dB sensitivity, 10Hz-20,000Hz frequency response, and less than 1% distortion.

Cooler Master Storm Sirus

5 comments

  1. Thanks for the review!

    It’s nice to know someone is not that skeptical about it’s microphone.

    Though, I think there’s a typo in:
    “100Hz-10Hz frequency response”
    , it should be “-10KHz”

    • Thanks for the kind words and keen eye. The fix has been made 🙂

      You’re right. The microphone is pretty darn good. No background noise or static, and a clear, crisp output. When you know historically not to expect studio-quality microphones on headsets, it allows for more objective thinking and hence less skepticism.

      Thanks again!

    • Thanks for the kind words and keen eye. The fix has been made

      You’re right. The microphone is pretty darn good. No background noise or static, and a clear, crisp output. When you know historically not to expect studio-quality microphones on headsets, it allows for more objective thinking and hence less skepticism.

      Thanks again!

  2. I have used this headset for over a year. Previously owned Razer Tiamat 7.1, and a pair of Turtle Beaches these are without a doubt the best surround sound headset on the market. The directional audio is just amazing for a pair of headphones. It is honestly every bit as good as my Klipsh Quintet 5.1 true surround sound system. Only issue vs. a true surround sound system is some games will put directional audio all in one speaker. This isn’t a problem with a true surround sound system where the sound bounces around the room and you still pick it up with both ears, while still hearing the direction it came from. In a headset though when all the sound comes from the left and then you pan to the right and suddenly the sound is coming just from the right and can only be heard in one ear, it is a bit jarring and just doesn’t sound right. Fortunately this seems to be the exception rather than the rule and most games seem to use a more intelligent surround sound algorithm. Again this ins’t a fault of the headset just of headsets in general vs. true surround sound. Front and rear directional audio is superb. Sound quality is great and bass really knocks. Only other issue is that you may have some trouble if you like to listen at really high volumes. I have my equalizer set to +10 to make up for lack of volume and that works good for me. I tried pushing the equalizer all the way to +20, but this would occasional result in distortion. Just be sure to max out the windows volume, the individual driver volumes, and up the equalizer a little and then you should have plenty of volume range just adjusting with the puck on the fly.

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